SPAIN Law and Practice Contributed by: Daniel Jimenez García and Álvaro Martín Talavera, SLJ Abogados
7. Enforcement Priorities and Case Law Developments 7.1 Enforcement Priorities Corruption, tax fraud and money laundering are the main focus of Spanish enforcement authorities. These offences harm public interests and directly affect the state and citizens, which justifies this priority. At the same time, the rise of internet fraud and the growing use of crypto-assets is prompting authorities to devote more resources to these offences. Crypto- assets are increasingly used both as tools for commit - ting fraud and for laundering proceeds. The sophisti - cation of these schemes and their cross-border nature require stronger capabilities in digital forensics, asset tracing and international cooperation. 7.2 Recent Case Law and Latest Developments Recent legislation has focused on strengthening pre - vention and investigation, as outlined below. • Organic Law 9/2022 made it easier for authorities and SEPBLAC to access and use financial infor - mation when preventing, detecting, investigating and prosecuting serious offences, including money laundering and terrorist financing. • Law 2/2023 introduced mandatory internal report - ing channels for companies and public-sector bod -
ies. This strengthens the early detection of wrong - doing and the protection of whistleblowers. • Royal Decree 609/2023 established the Central Register of Beneficial Ownership. This register is key to improving transparency about who owns and controls companies and legal structures. • A reform of the Criminal Code is also underway to transpose Directive (EU) 2024/1226, which will make it a criminal offence to breach European Union sanctions. In case law, one of the most significant recent deci - sions is the Supreme Court Judgment 1000/2025 of 9 December. The Court convicted the Attorney General of disclosing confidential data. The offence involved revealing communications between a lawyer and the prosecution during confidential plea negotiations. The judgment underscores the connection between such confidentiality and the right of defence. Also significant is National Court Judgment 4/2025 of 5 February in the so-called “fire cartel” case. This case concerned companies in the aerial firefighting sector that colluded to divide public contracts among themselves. The court convicted the defendants for, among other offences, distorting prices in public ten - ders under Article 262 of the Criminal Code. Notably, the judgment applied the statutory exemption under Article 262.3 to the participant who reported the con - duct and actively cooperated with the investigation.
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